Beautiful Black Iconography!

Hey Hey Ladies and Gents!!!
Can I just first start off my saying thank you Lord for Trey Songs parents! (Huh??? You say!) Well for those of you who have not heard Trey Songz Ready CD, you are seriously missing a vocal treat. The new millennium has really been devoid of a lot of powerful male R & B vocals. Now, some of the songs are a little inappropriate but the boy's voice is so spine tingling good at I look past my usual stipulations!!!! I definitely recommend checking it out on Youtube... My mom is even a Trey fan...She thinks he take her back to her day and R Kelly pre-scandal(s)...
Also while on there check out Shanel Cooper Sikes ShanelCooper (awesome connoisseur in the study of life-coaching I adore her)and ME Chloe3086 channels!

Now for the Art....

So I've had a bit of an hiatus...mainly due to getting back into the full swing of the school year has taking a slight toll. So is not having a lap (but that's another subject ennn-tirely.) But, I'm back and wanted to feature 3 artist I'm currently loving!

This is a throwback but Margaret Burroughs. I've always had a love for woodcuts and scratch board, the striking contrast is so beautiful and poignantly illustrates pieces, especially hers which speak Black female perspective which at times deals heavily with contrast. I love her work. Makes me wanna do some scratch board work...

Margaret Burroughs
Black Venus
Woodcut 1957




I adore his work...His pictures are so striking yet have a sense of entertainment. It doesn't hurt that he has worked with literally everyone. His work is beautiful!

Derek Blanks
Everybody (literally)
Phtograph

http://dblanks.com/
Check his site!


This next artist I adore! Michelle Constantine"s works are so interesting...This piece I will feature has to be one of my favorites. Last semester I did one of my favorite papers of my collegiate career on Voodoo, Santeria and Obeah culture and the art of the practices. Very interesting quilts and such interesting perplexing concepts. I think she has such and interesting aesthetic.. of course Check her out!!!

Updates 3.0, and inspiration!

My locks are really coming along
















Sometimes I am still; amazed at the progress of my hair. I mean, I knew this all was going to happen, that's what he 2 years of research were for; but nonetheless I am still in awe of black hair. The resilience and transformations out hair can make is really something. I remember being burned out with bald spots and tortured with alcohol induced "cleanses" from relaxers at the tender age of 10 and never thought at 23 I would have the makings of long healthy natural hair and better yet locs. It's very cool to see and I love the process. I say this all the time but I just love to reiterate it: I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO RELAXERS! Hallelujah!


Now to the reason for this post! I was reading an article on Michelle Obama, My love! If you've read post from my archive you know I've highlighted her name a few times! I just adore her. From her style to her "swagger" to sophistication and smarts the women is one point and is a beacon from Hope everywhere! She was the subject of a recent article that I loved. And to top that, she is going to be starring in a comic about raw and organic foods comic! How cool..Especially to an aspiring raw diva. But (back on topic), that got me thinking... Who inspires me... And why? Which further made me wonder..who inspires you? And why are they so inspirational in your life? I decided to stick to the black women that inspire me today because otherwise we'd be here all night!


1. Ntozake Shange, playwrite author



2. Michelle Obama, First Black First lady, lawyer, educator (power player/ role model)




3. Jada Pinkett Smith, director, produer, author, musician, actress




4. Kimberle Crewnshaw and Dr. Joy Degruy, educators




5. Candice Parker, Laila Ali, Serena and Venus Williams, athletes





7. Ayana Byrd, author



9. Janelle Monae, Jill Scott, India Arie and Erykah Badu, Alice Smith, Teedra Mosses, The Noisettes lead singer Shinghai Shoniwa








10. Faith Ringgold, Lois Maillou Jones, Iona Rozel Brown



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Fierce fit' and naturi's comeback!

I'm so glad the third little lady (Naturi Naughton formerly of the RnB pop group 3LW) made a comeback...And isn't being pigeon-holed into begin a tween movie queen like her trifling ex-band mate...Who kicked her out because 1. she wasn't fitting in(???) and two she wouldn't sleep with some producer (uber ewwww). Overall, it turned out for the best cause shes back and better then ever getting roles in Notorious and the remake of FAME (one of my favorite 80's movies...so IDK how I feel about that)but from the buss it may be great! I'm excited to watch her career blossom and her bounce back! Did I mention this outfit was FIERCE!!! 3 snaps guuurl!

Caster all gussied up...And shot outs to slave masters?!?!?

So I'm glad to see that the world can see what a lovely young lady Ms. Castor is...but for what. So the western world can see her and think she's pretty. So men can see her and lust, so she can get endorsements because she sooo pretty to be an athlete. It's really some bull shit! It really goes to show how these things end up doing down. Of course the western world...AKA whites are intimidated by her athletic prowess and have to tear her down to prove a point. And it speaks volumes on women's atheltics. Do you really think it would be sooo easy to go all the way to the international level of sports without someone else doubting her. I think its offensive and disgusting to think that they had to test her gender. Just cause she doesn't have blue eyes, long blond hair and a curvaceous body shes not a lady, furthermore a women. Our standards of beauty and femininity really need to be checked. Now don't get it twisted...She IS NOT the most feminine chick I've ever seen but I know plenty of girls with her body shape and if it weren't for some hair they'd look just like her. I cant imagine the humiliation her parents, friends and most importantly she felt when they asked for such and more so when it was performed. So she's not thick as Serena, stunning like Gabrielle Union or overtly feminine like Tyra Banks but damn. She's a lady! Get over it! Haters! This goes to a long line for western culture trying to slight our people in and offed attempted to assert their concept of Beauty was the only one.I dont know about you but these are the same people who said a women that looked like me was not pretty. Would never be the first wife and titled my hair DREADlocks...Don't be fooled!

And in other gripes...WTF is up with the ignorance and violence of 2009...I may be post-segregationist America but I feel like were still in race wars. Alot of times against our damn selves. Shame!. Black seems to find themselves the bane of the news all the time nowadays! Whats really good. This year started with Chris brown and Rihanna... Mr. Gates...all the racist the threats at our Dear President...YouTube overload of Black women hate...Modeling companies saying they can't find pretty Black girls to fill the black girl market that s booming(due to the beautiful Obama daughters)Mistah Fab...Yung burg...Bow Wow...Omarion...Drake..(who all said something bad to say about black women...Now Solja Boy (Who said " "Shout out to the slave masters! With out them we would still be in Africa. We wouldn't be here to get these ice and tattoos.")

Hello beautiful black people!

I wanted to ask a question and see what you my followers had to say about it.

What kind of man do you attract? Has it changed? Is it the same? Are you married single divorced? How haw your hair journey affected your love life, if at all....

I know me personally I can't speak as well on behalf of this because I went natural at age 13. However, I can say that during my press days I wasn't so much less confident but certainly more cautious of what i did and the limitation on my life led me to have issue with men. As, a cheerleader it was hard for me and my then boyfriend to have intimate encounters (non sexual of course, I was a virgin) but Even simple caressing lead to fear of head touching. the ultimate no no. One particular incident that will forever stick in my mind is one night at a club. It was my freshman year of college and I was back for the summer hanging with my girls in an ultra packed club. I had just gotten my hair pressed earlier that weeks so I knew I was poppin. I was just dancing and chatting and minding my own business when my crush at the time, Calvin H.(Mr. resident everything at Howard; good looking super intelligent, funny and available!!!)who was also from California, walked in. I ran to the bathroom to Gussie my self up only to look in the mirror grief stricken at the unsightly mess upon my head. I was so upset I started hyperventilating and crying.... Yes, crying in the club bathroom on the floor. I stormed out the club as Calvin tried to get my attention. Oh the horror. To add insult to injury, later that night I went to the car, got my flat iron out and began pressing my hair in the ihop bathroom. Not only was it awkward, but the smell was horrendous. After Thai My hair began to break and I started looking for an alternative ASAP! It began with a weave and then liberating myself. It's funny, I stopped crushing on him the next year and he got a girlfriend. A beautiful, chocolate girl, with a TWA!!!!! Yes, had I not been so ignorant I may have learned that he like women the way they are!!! But You live and you learn.

But back onto the men that I attract due to my natural hair. I must say that I've never had an issue since those high school days with a man and my hair... I actually see my permie friends have more issues. Now IDK if its cause I live in DC, IDK if its cause I'm more confident, IDK if its cause I'm in better physical shape but I do know that I'm happily in a relationship with the literal man of my dreams...Who is natural himself, ha a natural family and wants one went we get married. SO, for me natural is a way of life!!!

I'm so excited.. and I just can't hide it!

OK y'all so I'm officially about to explode because of this post I saw on The Young Black and Fabulous blog (YBF aka theybf.com)today... As some of my subscribers know I'm a barbie girl living in an adult world that shuns my barbie addiction. But, the editor-in-chief at Vogue magazine must be feeling my pain because he, Frank Sozzani, just announced that they will be featuring Black Barbies in next months issue. Swelling, swelling, swelling, swelling KABOOM!!!!!!! Excuse me y'all my head just exploded! This is a great feature for the magazine; a magazine of which has been call out for their lack of African American female aesthetic. I'm really happy to see Barbie featured because my grandmother Georgia Von Noble was the model for the original Black Barbies...Some history on the Black doll:

"Colored Francie" made her debut in 1967, and she is sometimes described as the first African American Barbie doll. However, she was produced using the existing head molds for the white Francie doll and lacked African characteristics other than a dark skin. The first African American doll in the Barbie range is usually regarded as Christie, who made her debut in 1968.

Interesting, considering that my grandmother is a proud Black woman with blue eyes, more slender features and gorgeous BROWN skin... I guess they had to cater to a much wider audience though... NEwho I have to feature some pictures and I will keep y'all posted on the Barbie news... I'm going to go collect my self!! (pun fully intended)

My beautiful Grandmother...



























Even though this juxtaposes the point it rings a lot of semblance of truth... Its a wonderful quilt but Kyra Hicks (google her baby)